View full sizeCharles Krupa / APTexas Rangers starter Cliff Lee, who is 3-0 in the playoffs this season, will pitch tonight in the World Series opener against the San Francisco Giants.

As Texas Rangers ace left-handed pitcher Cliff Lee prepares to start in Game 1 of the World Series against the San Francisco Giants tonight, he's also fielding questions about his upcoming free agency.

Lee is expected to be the New York Yankees' top target in the off-season. But Yankee fans didn't exactly roll out a welcome mat during the playoffs.

Lee's wife Kristen told USA Today, she and others sitting in the visiting family section at Yankee Stadium were subjected to taunts and obscenities from fans, who also threw cups of beer and spit in their direction.

Scott Shaw / cleveland.comKristen Lee.

"The fans did not do good things in my heart," Kristen told USA Today. "When people are staring at you, and saying horrible things, it's hard not to take it personal."

Both Cliff Lee and his agent said on Tuesday the incident will not impact his decision on where to play.

"I brush that off as fans being fans. You can't control 50,000 people and what they're going to do," Lee told The Associated Press. "I know it's been made into a big deal, but that's really all it is, just two or three or four people just acting like fools, and 50,000, you can't group them all together. But there's always going to be a couple goofballs in the crowd that think they have a right to do that stuff."

In an interview with ESPN New York, Lee's agent, Darek Braunecker added, "Her (Kristen's) experience in New York is certainly a non-issue. She enjoys New York as much as anyone enjoys New York."

"At the very least, if I were Cliff Lee, I would be extremely upset at Yankees management for exposing my wife and the wives of my Texas Rangers teammates to that sort of hostility -- and at stadium security, for apparently failing to do anything about it. (Nor did any of the fans sitting nearby.) And at the most, I would use it against the Yankees as leverage in what is likely to be a very difficult and expensive negotiation," writes Matthews.

What do you think about the fans' behavior toward Kristen Lee? Will Lee end up playing for the Yankees? Leave your comments below.